Shelf-supported drawer arrangement

ABSTRACT

A shelf-supported drawer arrangement including a housing, one or more drawers, and means for removably attaching the housing to a shelf.

United States Patent 1191 McDonnell [54] SHELF-SUPPORTED DRAWER ARRANGEMENT [76] Inventor: Thomas M. McDonnell, l I North 4th Avenue, Maywood, [IL 60153 [22] Filed: Aug. 2, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 168,036

[52] US. Cl. ..3l2/253, 312/245, 312/270, 312/306, 312/330, 211/88, 248/301 [51] int. Cl. ..A47b 91/00, A47b 51/00, A47f 5/00 [58] Field of Search ..3l2/245, 253, 270, 306, 308, 312/309, 311, 204, 330; 211/88, 90, 31;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,673,601 3/1954 Fischer et a1. ..297/l92 UX [4 1 Jan.23,1973

3,127,114 3/1964 Shaw ..248/301 x 1,610,014 12/1926 Kock ..211/80 ux 1,857,522 5/1932 Ungeheuer ..21l/88 X 1,164,966 12 1915 Sturgis ..312/245 x 2,281,959 5/1942 Stone 1 ..312 33o 2,424,364 7 1947 Myers .248/301 2,642,249 6/1953 Samuels 248/300 R 2,862,626 12/1958 Clare ..211/88 3,159,369 12/1964 Wiczer ..248/30l 3,633,983 1 1972 Whitcomb ..312/270 Primary Examiner-Paul R. Gilliam Attorney-Richard W. Carpenter [57] ABSTRACT A shelf-supported drawer arrangement including a housing, one or more drawers, and means for removably attaching the housing to a shelf.

2 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTED JAN 23 I975 lnvenror Thomas M. Mc Donnell Attorney SHELF-SUPPORTEDDRAWER ARRANGEMENT The invention relates to an arrangement for removably suspending a drawer and housing from a free shelf.

In order to provide additional temporary storage space it is desirable to provide a means {for mounting drawers in thefree areastor spaces between shelves of the type which are adjustably supported bybrackets carried by one or more vertical standards.

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel means for suspending, from a shelf, a relatively light weight housing and at least one drawer slidably mounted therein.

A more specific object of the invention is the provisionof a mounting means which utilizes .a plurality of clips for attaching a-drawer housing to the underside of a shelf.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from an examination of the following description and drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is perspective view of a shelf and drawer housing adapted for attachment thereto;

FIG; 2 is a front elevation of the housing and shelf illustrated in FIG. 1, with the drawer housing shown mounted under the shelf;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the front and rear clip members, respectively, which are illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical section taken on line 55 of FIG. 2 and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention;

It will be understood that, for purposes of clarity, certain elements have been intentionally eliminated where they have been illustrated to better advantage in other views. 7

Referring now to the drawing for a better understanding of .the invention, it will be seen that the drawer D and drawer housing H are adapted to be removably suspended from the underside of a shelf S which is in turn supported by a pair of brackets B carried by or mounted a pair of standards T.

' Housing H and drawer D are preferably formed of a relatively lightweight material such as plywood, paperboard, or a plastic material.

Housing H includes top and bottom walls 10 and 12 respectively, a pair of side walls 14, and a rear wall 16 all of which are joined together at their edges to form a box-like enclosure having an opening 18 at the front thereof for slidably receiving at least one drawer D.

Housing H is removably attached to and suspended under shelf S by means of a pair of front clip members 20 and at least one rear slip member 30.

As best seen in FIG. 3, front clip member 20 includes a pair of vertically spaced upper and lower elements 22 and 24, respectively, which are interconnected at their forward extremities by a preferably integrally formed vertical element 26, which is adapted to engage the front edge of shelf S, to define a generally U-shaped structure adapted to clamp shelf S and housing top wall 10 between the upper and lower elements 22 and 24.

Both clip members are preferably formed of spring steel or some othermaterial having resilient qualities which afford a spring like action to insure that the engagement between the clip members and the housing and shelf will be snug and firm.

If desired, front clip member lower element 24 may be provided at its rear extremity with an integrally formed upturned tipportion 28 which is adapted to dig into the underside of housing top wall 10 and thereby prevent accidental relative movement between the housing and shelf.

As best seen in FIG. 4, rear clip member 30 includes an upper horizontal element32, adapted to engage the,

housing top wall 10.

Lower element 36 is adapted to extend rearwardly and upwardly through an opening 42 in the rear wall 16 of housing H in spaced relation to the lower portion of vertical element 34 to clamp a portion of housing rear wall 16 thei'ebetween.

Rear element 36 may be provided at its rear extremity with an integral tip portion adapted to bear against a portion of bracket B to help maintain a snug or firm connection between the housing and shelf.

If desired, to provide an even tighter and more snug connection between the housing and shelf and to insure against any slippage between the shelf and housing, there may be provided a pair of strips of spongy doublefaced adhesive material positioned at the front and rear edges of the shelf between the underside of the shelf and the upper surface of housing top wall 10.

The arrangement illustrated in FIG. 6 is similar in construction and operation to the embodiment illustrated in the previous views except that the housing H 1 is large enough to house a plurality of drawers D 1.

Thus, it will be understood that the invention provides a simple arrangement of light weight construction for a housing and drawer which may be easily and removably attached to and suspended from a horizontal shelf.

I claim:

1. In an arrangement for removably suspending a drawer and drawer housing under a horizontal shelf having free front and rear vertical edges, the combination of:

a. a drawer housing having top, bottom, rear, and

side walls interconnected to form a box-like enclosure open at the front for receiving at least one drawer;

b. at least one drawer received within said housing;

c. self-contained, resilient clip'means for removably attaching, without bolts, said housing under said shelf, including:

i. at least one front clip member having a pair of upper and lower horizontal elements adapted to snugly engage the upper side of said shelf and the under side of said housing top wall, respectively, and a vertical element interconnecting said horizontal elements;

. at least one rear clip member having an upper horizontal element adapted to engage the upper side of said shelf, a vertical element extending downwardly from said horizontal element through an aperature in said housing top wall, and lower hook-like element extending rearwardly and upwardly from the lower end of said vertical element through an aperature in said housing rear wall;

iii. the vertical element of said rear clip member is disposed to lie against the rear surface of said shelf and against the inner surface of said housing rear wall; 

1. In an arrangement for removably suspending a drawer and drawer housing under a horizontal shelf having free front and rear vertical edges, the combination of: a. a drawer housing having top, bottom, rear, and side walls interconnected to form a box-like enclosure open at the front for receiving at least one drawer; b. at least one drawer received within said housing; c. self-contained, resilient clip means for removably attaching, without bolts, said housing under said shelf, including: i. at least one front clip member having a pair of upper and lower horizontal elements adapted to snugly engage the upper side of said shelf and the under side of said housing top wall, respectively, and a vertical element interconnecting said horizontal elements; ii. at least one rear clip member having an upper horizontal element adapted to engage the upper side of said shelf, a vertical element extending downwardly from said horizontal element through an aperature in said housing top wall, and lower hook-like element extending rearwardly and upwardly from the lower end of said vertical element through an aperature in said housing rear wall; iii. the vertical element of said rear clip member is disposed to lie against the rear surface of said shelf and against the inner surface of said housing rear wall; d. said clip means including two clip members at one end of the housing and one clip member at the opposite end of the housing.
 2. An arrangement according to claim 1 and including a pair of strips of double-faced, sponge like adhesive tape interposed between the underside of said shelf and the upper side of said housing top wall adjacent the front and rear edges of said shelf. 